Temporary Eden
by pinkpuruu
Summary: Sakura and Naruto struggle to come to terms with Sasuke's abandonment and try to find simple joy in the little things. [light SakuraxSasukexNaruto]


**Temporary Eden**

They bumped into each other outside of the Godaime's office, both with their heads bowed in deep contemplation.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto exclaimed, surprised, rubbing his head. A broad smile immediately grew on his face, hesitating only slightly. "W-What are you doing here?"

"Nothing," the girl said briskly. She plastered on a smile. "Why are you here? They released you so early?"

"Yup!" he said cheerfully, pumping his arms. "Small injuries like that can't bring me down!"

"Thank goodness," she said. Though her lips were formed in a smile, she could not stop a pained expression from crossing her features. She looked down. A cold silence hung between them, though neither seemed to have the courage to break it.

"Ano…" Naruto began hesitantly, scratching his hair. He shifted his feet awkwardly. "You know—"

"Isn't it about lunch time?" Sakura interrupted, in a falsetto. She grinned so hard her teeth showed. "We could go to Ichiraku to eat! My treat!"

Naruto brightened. "A date?!" He ducked instinctively, but to his surprise, she remained smiling.

"Let's go, okay?"

She led Naruto, a bit unwillingly, out of the Hokage building and towards the location of Ichiraku stand. Her grip on his arm was forceful, and she hardly even looked at him as they walked. Naruto, awkward in the cold silence, spoke.

"Sakura-chan, you know… about Sa—"

"Can we just," she said, stopping abruptly and looking more agitated than before. There was no false smile on her face anymore. "Enjoy this? For now? Until you go away?"

Naruto's eyes widened, "How did Sakura-chan…"

"You couldn't have expected that you could hide something that big from me, could you?" she said, her voice accusing. "Idiot."

He faltered for a split second, before laughing loudly. He scratched his head bashfully and said, "I always _knew_ Sakura-chan liked me better!" He hoped that she didn't see the small lines the marred his expression.

"Yes, well," she said, trailing off. "Ichiraku is just around the stand—what's your favorite ramen? My treat."

"No, no," Naruto said, pulling out his wallet which was bursting at its seams. "I got… paid today…"

Sakura didn't respond.

Their lunch was anything but warm. Sure, the ramen soup was filling as usual and the noodles were of the finest quality, but neither could break the cold harsh expanse that lay between the two of them. Naruto mentioned the weather a few times and how Iruka-sensei was working hard now and then, but they always fell short after Sakura gave one of her high polite chuckles. Naruto was reduced to slurp the ramen in silence.

After the bill was done and paid for, the two sat, terse and stoic, over a pot of steaming tea. Naruto was teetering on the edge—one of his closest (_no, his_ closest) friends could barely look at him, let alone talk to him. Naruto didn't like this sensation, nor did he feel like Sakura-chan was someone who should feel it too. Abruptly, he slammed his teacup down, jolting the girl beside him and spilling hot tea over his fingers.

"Sakura-chan," he said, his voice broken. "I'm _sorry_."

"No, it's nothing," she said quickly. "You paid for the tea, so—"

"Sasuke is a big selfish conceited _jerk._"

With unsteady fingers, Sakura clumsily tried to wipe the tea off of the wooden surface. "I'll ask for more tea…"

"Sakura-chan loved Sasuke so much, _so much_, and he just went and threw you, threw _us_ away…"

"Naruto," Sakura said, her voice cracking. "Naruto, please stop."

A wave of helplessness washed over the boy. "Sakura-chan, _I'm so sorry_." His hands clasped the teacup tightly. "I wanted to make you happy again…"

"It's not your responsibility," Sakura said softly. Naruto fell silent at this. Her eyes couldn't bring themselves to look at him. "Naruto, As long as you're here," she said, "I'll be fine without him."

He looked at her, eyes full of hurt and guilt, and smiled a little unwillingly. A weak bubble of laughter escaped him. "Don't make me blush…"

She looked at him, eyes full of regret and hope, and laughed. He relaxed slightly.

"I'm sorry," he said again. Sakura airily waved the apology away.

"Just promise me," she said, pouring more tea into their cups, "Promise me that when you come back, I'll be the first one you see."

"Of course, Sakura-chan!" Naruto said brightly, the clouds from his face disappearing. "You're my number one!"

A small constriction in her chest loosened slightly. "Of course," she said. She lifted her teacup and Naruto followed suit. "You are too."


End file.
